First feed FAILURE!

[Cass]

Ok so, according to who I got the snake from today makes exactly two weeks to the day he's eaten (been with us for a week). Was told he's never missed a feed, a good quick eater for F/T rats.

Did the whole let it soak in a bag in hot water till thawed and warm, offered it with tongs and no interest, sat it in his viv, didn't care for it, left it in his viv so he could have privacy and nothing. I noticed it was getting cold so I did the hairdryer method. Lots more interest but ultimately he never hit it. A friend of mine suggested the color of the rat might bother him, so I tried a second. (first was white, this was brown and white) repeated the steps again. This is like six hours and two rats.

Is there a chance I got a picky boy, or that they just said that to ease the purchase? Should I switch down to a young live rat or pinkies?

They said he eats every other week, so I know he's bound to be hungry... Advice Please!

[Sallos]

Do you have a photograph of the vivarium?

What are the temperatures and humidity?

Do you know what it was eating prior to you getting it?

Feeding issues with ball pythons can often be husbandry related. They can be pretty sensitive.

[Cass]

Don't have a pic as I'm on mobile, but his temperatures are at Basking temp 94-92, but ambient is 80-82. A cold hide and a warm one, though the water I only leave in for a few hours at a time since his favorite thing to do is flip it. So no water right now. I know this morning we had a sudden snow storm come in, but inside has remained unaffected. His humidity is a bit high (70) and FT small/medium rat

[cchardwick]

How big is the snake and how big is the rodent? It should be around 5% to 10% of the weight of the snake. How old is the snake? Feeding every two weeks is for adult snakes with large rodents, smaller snakes should be fed once a week. I never just drop a rodent in with my ball python and leave it there, they never eat it. I dangle it for about 30 seconds about an inch or two away from their head. If they don't eat I move on to the next snake, easier if you have more than one snake LOL. If they haven't eaten for awhile I'll try again the following day and if they still don't eat I'll wait until the next scheduled feeding.

What time of day are you feeding? The best time is late at night before you go to bed, my snakes hardly ever eat in the AM or during the day, they are mostly sleeping. I'll usually only feed live rat pups if the snake is really small and especially if it's a female that I plan on getting to breeding size. Some of my snakes will eat multiple rodents within a day or two, some will take one and refuse more. Others will fast for months. Unless they look really skinny or are real young I don't worry about it. Make sure your rodents are not too hot or too cold, should be around 100 - 110F and completely thawed. I like to thaw overnight in the fridge, then pop in an incubator set to 110F for an hour or so, longer for bigger rats. Also, I wouldn't refreeze the rodents once thawed, I'd toss them. Or better yet get another snake that is an aggressive eater that will eat all the ball python left overs LOL. I usually stagger my feeding, I'll prepare just one or two at a time and start with my picky eaters and end with aggressive eaters. I almost never have left over rodents.

[Cass]

I was told Lorcan was just over three years and had been bred (I assume a full grown adult), and he's about three and a half feet. Not sure on weight and a scale is currently en route via Amazon so sorry on that one haha, medium rats for food but we have some smalls too. All frozen thawed. We have a second snake and he feeds in the morning, I'd just been following that- should I try again tonight?

[Snakes1]

When it's an adult I would just try to feed him, if he don't take just wait a week (or two) and then try again. Adults can go months without food.

(That is if your temps and everything else is good)

[Zincubus]

Presu ming the snake in question is a Royal / Ball python _ feeding in the morning makes no sense as they're nocturnal . My Royals will only eat in the evening with the lights

Plus ideally give him a week or so to settle in - so no handling or anything .

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Medium rats are pretty big for an adult male so if that is what he was eating chances how he is fasting to catch up, which assuming he has a good body size is nothing to worry about.

While suggested the 10% rules does not apply to adults so please keep that in mind.

Males greatly benefit from smaller preys rats (between 55 to 75 grams weekly) with skip meals in between.

Also keep in mind that adult tend to take a bit longer to adjust and feed sometimes as long as several months.